BASEBALL 

Clayton Kershaw struck out four and didn’t walk a batter over six scoreless innings in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers past the San Francisco Giants, 7-0, a day after he spoke out in support of his Black teammates as the clubs decided not to play in protest of racial injustice.

AJ Pollock hit a two-run homer and Dodgers star Mookie Betts reached 1,000 hits in his 824th game with his sixth-inning single.

Joc Pederson homered and Will Smith added an RBI double as the Dodgers won the nightcap, 2-0. They used relievers and didn’t allow a baserunner until Brandon Belt’s leadoff single in the fifth – San Francisco’s lone hit until Belt singled again in the seventh.

• Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler was placed on the injured list, retroactive to Aug. 23, because of a blister on his right hand.

• The Seattle Mariners traded right-hander Taijuan Walker to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player or cash.

Walker was 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA in five starts this season, with 25 strikeouts and eight walks. He is 33-33 with a 3.95 ERA in parts of eight big league seasons.

• Rookie Jose Marmolejos hit his first grand slam and Shed Long Jr. also connected in a six-run first inning that carried the Seattle Mariners to an 8-3 victory against the San Diego Padres and a split of a doubleheader in San Diego.

Manny Machado of the Padres hit three home runs in the doubleheader, including two in the first game, which San Diego won, 10-7. Wil Myers hit a game-ending three-run homer to cap a seven-run rally with two outs in the seventh inning.

• Erik Gonzalez and Adam Frazier singled in runs, rookie Cody Ponce earned his first big league victory and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 for a doubleheader sweep in St. Louis.

Cole Tucker drove in the go-ahead run in extra innings in the Pirates’ 4-3 win in the opener.

• Jesse Winker homered twice, prized prospect Jose Garcia singled in his first big league at-bat and Cincinnati won a doubleheader opener at Milwaukee, 6-1.

TENNIS

U.S. OPEN: American teenager Coco Gauff and two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka could face each other at the U.S. Open again after the draw for the Grand Slam tournament set up a possible third-round rematch.

The draw was announced on the same day all matches in the Western & Southern Open – being played at the U.S. Open site because of the coronavirus pandemic – were postponed following Osaka’s decision Wednesday to drop out of her semifinal in response to the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by police in Wisconsin.

Osaka changed course Thursday, saying she would play when the Western & Southern Open resumes Friday because the tournament’s pause helped call attention to the issues of racial injustice and police brutality.

The U.S. Open is scheduled to begin Monday, without any spectators.

FOOTBALL

NFL: The New York Jets acquired running back Kalen Ballage from the Miami Dolphins for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2021.

The trade between the AFC East rivals reunites Ballage with Coach Adam Gase, who was in charge in Miami when the Dolphins drafted him in the fourth round out of Arizona State.

• The Buffalo Bills released veteran kicker Stephen Hauschka, 35, in a money-saving move favoring youth.

Hauschka was the odd-man out in a kicking competition with Tyler Bass, a rookie sixth-round draft pick out of Georgia Southern.

COLLEGES

FOOTBALL: Georgia wide receiver Dominick Blaylock will miss the 2020 season following his second serious knee injury in two years.

Blaylock, a sophomore who was a part-time starter in 2019, was one of the team’s top returning receivers and return specialists.

MEN’S BASKETBALL: The NCAA approved guard Landers Nolley II’s request for a transfer, allowing him to play this season at Memphis.

The 6-foot-7 guard-forward played his freshman year at Virginia Tech and led the Hokies in scoring with 15.5 points per game.

GOLF

EUROPEAN TOUR: Justin Waters took full advantage of his early start time to shoot an 8-under 64 in the first round of the rain-affected UK Championship in Sutton Coldfield, England, giving him a three-shot lead.

Play was suspended for nearly four hours in the afternoon because of rain. When play was stopped for the day because of darkness, 59 players had yet to complete their round.

– News service reports